Page 14 of A Secret Crush Valentine’s (Holiday Shifters of Frost Mountain #9)

Mr. Popular

The cave was spacious enough to house three fully grown dragons, but Damon was finding it difficult to pull air into his lungs, and it was all because of Julia. Her mere presence took his breath away. Kissing her was another matter entirely. He’d fantasized about doing it since high school, back on earth, but not even years of longing and imagination had prepared him for this moment.

He half-wondered whether she might object and felt a thrill as she kissed him back. He wrapped his arm around her, pulling her closer, the heat of his desire growing in the depths of his belly and even deeper, consuming his senses until she was all he was aware of.

He could feel his pulse throbbing in his extremities in sync with his heart. Even as he kissed her, a small part of him struggled to comprehend the stark reality of it. He could accept Frost Mountain, a magical mountain from which no one could escape. But kissing Julia was even more unbelievable.

His tongue found its way into her mouth, meeting hers, exploring her mouth with an excitement he’d never felt. He cupped her face, then her breasts, kneading them. She let out a soft moan that was powerful enough to stop a dragon in its tracks.

And it did. Damon pulled away, blinking at her as the rest of the cave slipped from his vision. Those blue eyes returned his gaze. Chest heaving, hair half-disheveled and covered with snow, she was the single most beautiful thing he’d encountered in 16 years of life on this mountain.

“What’s wrong?” she asked, sounding just as breathless as he was.

The sight of those lips moving was an impossible challenge for his self-restraint, but he managed to hold back. “You know where this is headed, right?”

In response, she nodded, then smirked. “I’ve never made love in a cave before, but it sounds exciting.”

“Me, either,” he admitted.

Disbelief crossed her face for a moment. “Probably in some village, then, or somewhere else on Frost Mountain.”

Slowly, he shook his head.

It was her turn to blink. “So you’re saying you’ve never…?”

His silence was the best answer he could muster.

Realization dawned on her, and her eyes widened. “You’re kidding me.”

“I’m not.”

“You. Mr. Popular.”

He shrugged. “Maybe I was saving myself for you.” It wasn’t the real reason, obviously. He hadn’t even realized she was still alive until he’d found her on Frost Mountain. But even if he’d wanted someone else, there was little he could have done about it. Being a Collector hadn’t afforded him the liberty of romantic connections.

Her lips curved into a warm smile that added to the fire blazing in his gut. “Well, if we’re being honest, I haven’t, either. I never got to do it.”

He lifted a brow. “You never met anyone else?”

“They weren’t you, Damon.”

That was all he could take. His lips crashed over hers again. He kissed her deeply for a moment, then gave in further to his desires and ran his lips across her cheek, trailing a path along her jawline until he reached the base of her throat. She might be his first, but that didn’t mean he didn’t know what to do. Her moans and sighs echoed through the cave, urging him on, reflecting the desperate need that was growing inside him.

His hand found her breast again under her jacket, and he kneaded it, brushing his finger across her distended nipple. His erection strained against his trousers, pulsating with each second. It dawned on him a second later that his fingers were trembling with anticipation, which made no sense. He’d seen this woman before, all of her. But logic had no place here, especially where the desires of his heart and body met.

As he kissed her, he slowly tugged off her clothing, easing the jacket from her shoulders. Her other tops followed, and she gave a light shiver even though it was warm in the cave. She sat before him, her breasts bared to his hungry eyes. In the golden firelight, they were practically aglow, beckoning to his lips.

Fuck.

Damon was nothing if not obliging. Easing her onto her back on a pile of her clothes, he hovered above her and promptly took her breast into his mouth, suckling and kneading it as wave after wave of unfiltered desire washed over him.

“Oh, God, Damon.” Her body arched up to meet his, and he felt the warmth of her belly against his throbbing erection. “You feel so…” The rest of her sentence was lost in a gasp as he pinched her other nipple between his fingers.

When he glanced up at her, her blue eyes had darkened with lust. He snaked his tongue along her satin skin, swirling it around her distended nipple, and was rewarded with a moan that kicked up his own desire.

Oh, yes, baby.

As if of their own accord, his fingers traveled down the length of her torso, over her belly, and unzipped her trousers. Tugging them to her ankles, he trailed his fingers up her inner thighs, feeling her shiver at his touch. The scent of her arousal hit his nostrils, nearly knocking him senseless.

“I’ve always thought you were beautiful, Red,” he murmured, his voice thick with emotion as he drank in the sight of her nakedness. “But this… this is mind-blowing.”

She kicked her trousers off completely, her breathing harsh as she stared up at him. She parted her legs wide, opening herself up to him like a flower. Keeping his gaze on her, he brought his mouth over her engorged clitoris, parting her folds with his fingers. As her alluring eyes widened with a gasp, he slid a finger and then another into her, caressing her sweet spot.

“Oh, fuck,” she panted, her hips bucked against his face, but she reached down and raked her fingers through his hair, holding him in place. “Oh, my—yes, just like that.”

A thrill spread through Damon, and he continued to taste her, his tongue swirling around her clit as he had done with her nipple. When he suckled it, she let out a strangled cry that only encouraged him to keep going, and he thrust his fingers in and out of her in a steady rhythm, feeling the pressure building up inside her. When she began to spasm, he knew that her pleasure had reached its crescendo.

“Oh… Damon!” Her entire body seemed to freeze for a moment. And then she began to convulse, gasping and crying out as her orgasm bolted through her. In moments, she was panting and writhing as the final spasms wracked her body.

In a moment, he hovered above her again, gazing deep into her eyes. He brought his lips to hers, allowing her to taste herself.

This time, it was she who broke the kiss. “Are you going to take your clothes off or what?”

He grinned against her mouth. Then, as quickly as he could, he divested himself of his own clothing, stretching his bare body over hers. Her breasts were crushed against his chest, his erection throbbing against her warm, wet folds. After what looked like hesitation, she reached between them and curled her fingers around him, gently stroking his shaft, and he let out a soft hiss.

Yes, she was going to blow his mind.

Damon looked forward to it.

“I want you,” he rasped. “Now.”

She spread her legs wider.

They stared at each other for one heart-stopping second. “Are you…?”

“Yes, I’m sure. I want you, too, Damon.”

That was all the encouragement he needed. Positioning himself between her thighs, he shifted his hips and slid into her in a single stroke, burying himself to the hilt. They gasped in unison, Damon both from the pleasure and warmth that rolled over his cock and the realization that he was inside her.

He’d wanted this since the day he’d landed in front of her and saw her shift from a snow leopard, but a part of him still hadn’t dreamed anything like this could happen, especially given their current circumstances. Here they were, hiding out in a cave, on the run from Grim Jim and his merciless Collectors, and he was buried inside her.

It felt right.

It was right, he told himself, as he began to move. Emotion and lust rushed through him as he thrust into her. She felt delicious around him, and as he continued his strokes, his pleasure mounted. With a whimper, she wrapped her legs around him, locking him tightly against her.

“Damon.... oh!” Her eyes rolled up into the back of her head as he quickened his thrusts. She threw her arms around him, her fingers digging into his back.

“You feel perfect.” The words left his mouth without him really thinking. “So… perfect.”

Her legs tightened around him, forcing him to quicken his strokes. A grunt of pleasure escaped his lips. They were joined completely, his skin grazing hers with each movement, her nipples poking his chest. It was only a matter of time before his ecstasy reached a climax. Her eyes grew wider with each thrust, and he knew he was driving her closer to the edge, too.

“I love you, Red,” he murmured. He wasn’t sure if she could hear him, but he didn’t care. “I’ve always loved you. I always will.”

When her orgasm came, it was with a shriek that reverberated through the cave. She clenched around him as she erupted, her finger sinking even deeper into his skin. Her climax triggered his own release, and with a few more pumps, he groaned loudly as he spilled himself into her.

They lay clinging to each other for what had to be minutes but felt like hours. Finally, he rolled over and lay on his side, holding her close to him, panting as he tried to fathom what he’d just done with his high school crush.

No, not crush. That was an oversimplification of his emotions.

She was his first love.

His only love.

And she belonged to him just as much as he belonged to her.

He wasn’t about to let her go again. And he sure as hell wasn’t going to let any harm come to her. He’d spent the past 16 years surviving on the mountain, no matter the cost, but he would risk it all to protect this woman who had an unbreakable hold on his heart.